Heated Seeker
by Prime627
Summary: Starscream is in heat, and it's the only time that he has to create a perfect trine of Seekers. He decides to take advantage of that.
1. Chapter 1

Starscream woke up with the knowledge something wasn't right. He had kicked the sheets off his berth, something he just didn't do at night. He scanned himself and he found that his heat cycle had snuck up on him.

Seekers went into heat every Cybertronian spring, and that gave him the ability to sire a whole trine of Seekerlings, the "perfect" kind of Seekers where one didn't get stronger than the others and kill them.

But who would be strong enough to carry them? Airachnid wouldn't do it, and she was the only Decepticon femme!

But there was another femme, an Autobot femme with an attitude and an annoying habit of living. She could carry a good trine in Starscream's opinion. So he got up and excused himself to go on a patrol for Energon, since they had no territory to guard and defend.

Arcee, as it happened, was in need of some fresh air or something because Starscream found her within moments, descending onto her and knocking her down into the dirt. He laughed and turned her helm, patting her cheeks with his claws. "You will do just fine..."

She watched him sleepily, her optics and system's struggling to reboot. She groaned when she was lifted off the ground with surprising tenderness she expected from Optimus, but her optics saw only Starscream.

The Seeker laid her down on grass. A creek whispered over stones. Had she been here with another mech, it would have been soothing.

Starscream shifted her around, being extra careful around her winglets. "You are the creation of a Seeker. Shame the coding didn't make it all the way through."

Her carrier was the Seeker. She was a low-caste femme, so she didn't get hated as much as the higher-up femmes that fell for grounders that visited Vos, the Seeker city. Her sire was a grounder, one of the more agile ones that made a living by spying and assassinating. Her sire had been a spy, which passed on to Arcee. She was small like her sire, but fast like her carrier, and Tailgate used to say it was a deadly combo.

"You could have been magnificent but instead, you are stuck on your wheels." Starscream walked around her, tilting his helm and he made minor adjustments to the position of her legs, arms, and helm. "It's a real shame."

He was probably going to talk her to death. Arcee rolled her optics, the lids slowly shuttering until she only saw Starscream briefly before everything went black.

 **ooo**

Despite what they say about Seekers, they don't _frag and run_. Seekers would court mates for years, and then fragging would last for hours. It used to be said, among the grounders of course, that Seekers in the berth were amazing, because if you were a femme, you'd keep coming back for more. That referred to the number of sparklings Seeker sires generally created: three.

Seekers were, of course, very passionate in the berth, and Starscream was no exception. He stretched out beside Arcee, waiting for her to wake up.

He was born and raised in a time where mechs respected femmes. If his carrier could have seen what Knock Out did to femmes, she would kick him off the _Nemesis_.

Arcee was still asleep, her systems making a lot of noise as they fixed whatever damage Starscream caused. He felt bad about that, but if he grabbed her _gently_ , she probably would have sustained greater damage.

Starscream stroked her face, his thumb running just below her optic. He admired her frame, seeing why she was admired by Knock Out and trying to figure out why no mechs were jumping all over her. He decided to do the math, pairing mechs up.

Bumblebee and Smokescreen, Optimus Prime and Ratchet, Wheeljack and Bulkhead...that just left Arcee. She was excluded because she was an extra player on Team Prime. Poor Arcee, all alone, not by choice, but how the team added up.

There was the slight probability of Starscream being her first, but he decided not to put all his hopes on that. Cybertronians were social, and if they found love, they dove in with all their sparks. Arcee could have fallen for a miner, or a sniper, and he could have been her first. Or perhaps it was a femme she fell for.

Humans were homophobic. Cybertronians embraced it. Humans made laws preventing it. Cybertronians made laws preventing laws to prevent it. Mechs didn't just love femmes and femmes didn't just love mechs. Mechs often turned to their friends and even siblings for affection, and sometimes they wound up bonded. Split-sparks were notorious for bonding together.

Starscream was jolted from his thoughts when Arcee woke up, blinking around weakly. He stroked her cheek and waited until she was growling before he spoke.

"My dear femme, you may run if you wish. I will just have to find Airachnid, or wait for another femme to fall from the stars, but I need to sire sparklings. I am in Seeker heat, and it will not fade until I interface."

She watched him blankly, but then she moved closer. She must have learned from her carrier that Seekers were tender, not demanding at all.

Starscream guided her into a kiss, stroking her helm and touching her cheek. He cradled it, his claws tapping on her helm when he went to move again. He sat up and set her in his lap, kissing her jaw and neck. She tipped her helm for him, sighing and purring softly.

He rubbed her hips, petting and squeezing until he heard her panel slide back. He slowly touched there, rubbing the heel of his servo on her main sensor while his claws slipped inside. There was no resistance and he blinked up at her, cupping her face.

"Tailgate," she whispered and she hugged his neck tight.

Starscream's optics softened. He knew Tailgate died in front of her. Megatron ordered his execution when Arcee did not spill secrets. He shifted Arcee in his lap, kissing her abdominal plating. She twitched, then went still as she watched him.

He nuzzled her until she began to grow bored. He experimented with her, locating all of her external sensors and touching each one. Now it was time to sire a sparkling trine. He was getting twitchy and anxious. His panel bulged and he needed release. He spread her legs slowly, touching her valve and easing the petals open. She sighed.

His spike slid into her easily and he settled over her, kissing her face and neck while he thrusted. He was different, and he wanted Arcee to know that he was. He wasn't here to frag her and run off to pretend nothing had happened between them.

Humans fragged for fun. Starscream was not going to let Cybertronians become like them. If Arcee was going to end up carrying his trine, he wanted to be there for her.

She was getting tired. She had some endurance as a part-Seeker, but the grounder part of her burned out fast. Her valve was still active, dripping and clenching around Starscream's spike while his thrusts quickened.

He overloaded just in time. She was exhausted, her optics dim. She touched his face when he kissed her cheek, but then she was asleep. Starscream cleaned them both up and replaced their panels, patting her thighs, her hips, her arm. She only sighed and purred, hiding in his warmth.

Optimus found them in the morning. Later, Starscream was thankful that it was the Prime. Ratchet would have neutered him.

"What have you done?"

Starscream looked down at the femme curled up agaisnt his side. She was smiling, purring, and obviously carrying a perfect trine. Her belly was slightly bigger than Starscream's carrier's had been.

"I have sired sparklings, and if it pleases you, I will remain with her until she sends me away."

Optimus' lips narrowed into a thin line as he watched his second-in-command. She was waking up, stroking her belly with fond servos that came from her Seeker coding.

Seeker femmes adored all creations, planned or not, crippled or not. If humans did not get the desired result, it seemed the easy answer was an abortion, which later they would of course regret. There were few things Starscream regretted, but siring this trine was not one of them.

Optimus helped the carrying femme into the base, skillfully avoiding the others for the Autobots' sakes. He laid the two down together, stroking their helms and smiling down at them. Arcee was purring. Starscream was gently stroking her helm.

The Prime knew his second and the trine in her womb would be safe. He just couldn't guarantee Starscream's safety.


	2. Chapter 2

It was no surprise that Ratchet found the sleeping two-wheeler and her odd choice in mates first. Bulkhead and Bumblebee were less surprised and they were the first ones to congratulate her.

Starscream was relentlessly trying to get Ratchet's favor. "You must see that I had no choice, but I wouldn't change my actions if you gave me a do-over!"

"Funny!" Ratchet snarled as he backed Starscream into a corner. "Neither would I!" He had thrown a wrench at the Seeker when he found him, convinced he was there to destroy them all. It didn't help that he found out Arcee was carrying as well.

Starscream huffed and opened his mouth, but a scream interupted them. It was Arcee. He ran to his mate and slid on his knees painfully to reach her. She laid on the floor where she had fallen, Energon pooling under her hips. "RATCHET!"

"NOT PRESENT!"

"FRAG YOU TO THE PITS!" Starscream scrabbled around, nervously touching and petting as he tried to get his processor to work. What did he have to d-

A towel was dangled in front of him, and there was a bucket of warm water. Optimus knelt on the other side of Arcee, offering a small smile.

"You cradle her helm, if you do not mind, and I will pass you sparklings."

Starscream touched his upper arm, nodding. He hoped the Prime could see how thankful the Seeker was. Optimus smiled more and settled by Arcee's pedes.

The blue femme was panting heavily. "They're big..."

"They are perfect, my mate. They are larger than most, and so your body drops them earlier than most." He hold her helm in his lap as he knelt, stroking under her optic to catch unwanted tears. She bared her denta and arched off the floor.

Optimus stroked her thigh, and Starscream felt a surge of jealousy when he realized that was where one of her sensors were hidden, but then he heard his mate coo instead of wail. Optimus was distracting her, but not for long.

"A wing has unfurled and it is catching in her valve. Starscream, I must touch."

Starscream grabbed his mate's servos and let her squeeze. "Do it."

Seeker wings are large at first. They are normally curled around the baby like a weird blanket, but sometimes the wings can unfurl and catch in the valve tissue, causing more pain and damage than necesarry. Starscream's wings remained furled, but his brother's...not so much. His carrier complained for years afterwards.

Optimus grunted and produced a rather large Seekerling, covered in Energon and sniffling for its carrier, little claws bunched into fists while its slightly heeled pedes kicked at Optimus' servo.

"Femme," he sighed and he laid the little one on Arcee's belly. It was silver and blue, with bright blue optics and a streak of silver on her face. Starscream cleaned the little one up and found his wings on her little frame. He exhaled on her face. It scrunched up.

"Here comes another. Starscream," Optimus lifted his helm, smiling at the Seekerling. "They are beautiful."

The following Seekerling was all silver and femme, and clinging to its pede was a blue femme with tiny wings that could turn into winglets, depending on if Arcee's coding made it through after all. Starscream cradled them both, sighing gently onto their faces and watching them scrunch up their faceplates and pout.

Arcee let Optimus clean her up, her optics dim. Bulkhead and Bumblebee stood in the doorway, watching with wide, soft optics. Everyone loved Seekerlings.

Starscream looked at his mate. "All femmes."

"Drat. I wanted a mechling," she joked. She sighed and sat up slowly. "Mmmm..." She touched the all-silver femme. "Tailgate."

Starscream looked at her and let his helm rest on hers. "I was thinking that, too... And this little blue one will be Starcry..."

Arcee leaned over and touched the first born's helm. "Mm... Patches."

Starscream's optics narrowed. "We are naming our children, not a pet, Arcee."

"I know. She looks like she was made from our spare parts, all stitched up and patched together." She looked up at him, her optics dimming gently so they looked pleading and innocent.

Starscream snickered. "You cannot fool me with that innocent act. You were touched when I got to you."

She bared her denta. "Fine. If my name is so terrible, what do you have in mind?"

He rocked the sparklings back and forth. "Stardust."

She leaned against him and sighed gently. "Alright..." She stroked her daughter's helms and smiled gently. "I like it."

"I knew you would." He kissed her gently, not knowing Ratchet was standing in the doorway.

"Unbelievable. He's still here? Really? All through the birth?" Ratchet walked in. Arcee was pulled away and Starscream set his daughters in Optimus' arms, muttering _take care of them_ before he stood.

"I was."

Ratchet stood pede-to-pede with him, glaring into his optics before he sighed and touched his shoulder. "You're a good mech, you know that? Sires don't often stay for the birth, you know?"

"Seekers," he said, "stay for everything."

Ratchet smiled and he elbowed him. "We'll see."

Starscream flashed a grin and he went back to his family, lifting them up to lay them down on Arcee's berth. He laid the femmes on his pillow and stroked his mate's helm. "Rest now."

"What about you?"

He pulled up a chair, waving Ratchet, Bumblebee, and Bulkhead away. "I will take the night watch. You deserve a nice long recharge."

Optimus touched his wing gently when he saw Arcee was asleep and he looked him in the optic. "You take care of her. You do not break her, and you do not leave her with the sparklings. Do you understand?"

He had robbed Optimus of his chance to be with Arcee, Starscream realized. His optics betrayed only a slight amount of surprise, and then he nodded. "I understand, my Prime, but you don't have to worry about me running away." He looked back at his family. "I belong here."

Optimus nodded and patted his helm gently, and then he left, closing the door slightly behind him.

 **ooo**

Stardust woke first, wailing for food. He plucked her off the pillow and carried her out of the room, tip-pede-ing until he was in an empty room, the RecRoom. Her fed her Low Grade.

"So you don't get the jitters while your mommy is trying to sleep," he purred as she drank. She fell asleep curled up against his chest, her wings fluttering gently. He touched them and sighed gently.

"Feeling sad, Starscream?"

He looked at Optimus. "Not about having a family like I've always wanted," he growled. "I am merely missing my brothers."

"What happened to them?" Optimus grabbed Low Grade for himself, even though there were plenty of normal grade Energon.

"We were separated on Cybertron. I never saw them after we left." He looked down at his daughter. "My daughters remind me of us..."

Optimus made a soft sound. "I had a brother, yet I have not seen him in quite some time. You learn to go on without them."

"Well, just because you once had a brother-"

"A split-spark twin."

Starscream apologized. Split-sparks and Seekerling trines had basically the same bond with their siblings.

Optimus touched Starscream's arm. "I know how you feel." And he walked out, once again shutting the door slightly.

Stardust squirmed in his arms and he walked back to Arcee's quarters were Starcry was acting up, sniffling and fussing. Starscream ended up sleeping in the RecRoom at the table, his arms wrapped around all three of his daughters, Low Grade cubes scattered around him, all four Seekers asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay...so, someone seems to think I got Stardust from her fics. Umm, this is the origin of my Stardust:**

 **I roleplayed with my friend since we were around eleven, ten years old. She was a little drawing I had, and I wanted to add her in. Upon consulting with my roleplay partner, our characters had trine of Seekerlings (my character was a Seeker) and one of them was called Stardust (her brothers were Crimson and Silverbolt). Stardust was a cripple in the original picture, but I didn't like her being as crippled as her carrier, so I corrected that. She was "born" sometime in 2008 or 2009, because 2010 was when her older sister was "born".**

Starscream taught his little Seekerlings to fly, guiding the femmes into alt modes. Normal sparklings didn't get alt modes until they were young mechs and femmes, but Seekers' flight abilities were vital for survival. And so Starscream's sparklings learned as soon as they could run.

Stardust fluttered her servos in a nervous, scared way. Starcry was already in the air, and Tailgate was flipping loops, but Stardust hadn't...gotten the hang of it.

"Don't push her," Arcee fretted from a few feet away where Starscream told her to stand after the two-wheeler caught her hovering babies and forced them back onto the ground, screeching _they'll fall_.

Starscream kissed her worries away, and then sent her back to stand away from the action. Seeker carriers were always the same, he thought, be they grounder or Seeker.

Stardust ran back to her carrier while her sire thought, and Starscream drug her back by her servo.

"Come along, child. Time to fly..." He hesitated, then looked up at his other daughters. "Cling to me?" He adjusted her servos and pedes, then slung her onto his back between her wings.

Clinging came naturally to Seekerlings, and here was why. As soon as Starscream transformed, she was safely tucked on the top of his alt mode, her claws deep into his transformation seams and her pedes finding holds for them to rest. Her wings were also limp and fluttered with the wind to not be problematic for Starscream.

He transformed back as soon as he was above the clouds and he turned his daughter over in his servos. Then he let go, and she fanned her wings out and cried as Starscream fell faster than she.

The King had done the very same thing to Skywarp, and though it made the Queen faint, Skywarp was one of the better fliers in Vos. There was no reason Stardust would be any different.

Starscream knew he couldn't take his alt mode and leave his daughter, so he watched her as he fell.

They passed the other two, who were petrified, and Starscream somehow heard Arcee's screaming above the angry roar of the wind over his audios.

Stardust's optics widened and Starscream knew he had to be close to the ground. He braced for impact, curled his body, and cut feeling from his wings.

He hit the ground. Hard.

Stardust took her alt form (at last) and flew over him, shaking and wobbling in the air as she worked her way higher and higher until she was with her sisters, who circled their sire like vultures over a carcass.

Arcee's servos were on his face. "Starscream!?"

He cracked an optic. "Is she flying?"

She slapped him, but she was laughing and crying at the same time, climbing into his lap to press against his body.

"Don't tell me you were worried..." He sat up and kissed her hard.

"I thought something had gone wrong!"

"No. Father did the same thing to Skywarp when he was teaching us to fly. Only, I think Skywarp flew before Father could hit the ground." He rubbed his helm. "Earth certainly has more give than Cybertron."

Stardust landed and the three Seekerlings were surrounding him, crying and pulling at his servos.

He shook them back, chuckling. "I'm fine, I'm fine..." He looked at Stardust, who was shaking like a leaf. "Oh, dear..." He pulled her into his lap. "You did _great_ , only I hoped your instincts would snap to attention _before_ I could hit the ground."

She hugged his neck and clung there. Starscream got and walked back into base with his family, stroking Arcee's helm and petting his daughters' wings.

His own wings were scuffed and dented, and though he knew they must be aching, they weren't badly damaged. Had he been on Cybertron when he tried to teach his daughter to fly, however, he would be a wingless Seeker.

Ratchet buffed out his dents with rough servos, and once again Starscream was glad that he had cut feeling from his wings.

He turned around when the medic walked away. "May I ask why you hate me?"

"You're a Decepticon."

"Was. I was a Decepticon."

Ratchet pushed his face into the Seeker's. "Once a Decepticon, always a Decepticon. The word _deceive_ is in the name. I can't believe you. You might have tugged the sheep over everyone else's optics, but not mine!"

"Wool, Ratchet. Just wool. Not the entire sheep..."

"Aha, you confess."

Starscream rolled his optics and he got up. "Ratchet, I am sorry that you feel like you cannot trust me. But I have changed. You must believe that."

"You wait, Starscream. There'll be an opportunity to switch sides and you'll jump for it."

The rage in his optics made the Seeker feel...uncomfortable.

Could Ratchet be right after all?


End file.
